Pastor's Blog
Crocus-Minded PDF Print E-mail
Written by Julie Blum   

 

It Takes Courage To Be Crocus-Minded
It takes courage to be crocus-minded.
Lord, I’d rather wait until June
like wise roses,
when the hazards of winter are safely behind,
and I’m expected,
and everything’s ready for roses.
But crocuses?
Highly irregular!
Knifing up through hard frozen ground and snow,
Sticking their necks out because they believe in Spring
and have something personal
and emphatic to say about it.
 
Lord, I am, by nature, rose-minded,
even when I have studied the situation here
and know that there are wrong things that need righting,
affirmations that need stating,
and I know also that speaking
out may offend –
for it rocks the boat.
 
Well…I’d rather wait until June,
Maybe later things will work themselves out,
and we won’t have to make an issue of it.
Lord, forgive.
 
Wrongs don’t work themselves out.
Injustices and inequities and hurts don’t just dissolve.
Somebody has to stick her neck out,
somebody who cares enough to think through
hard ground because she believes
and has something personal
and emphatic to say about it.
 
Me, Lord?
 
Crocus-minded?
 
Could it be that there are things that need to be said,
and you want me to say them?
 
I pray for courage.
 
From Bless This Mess and Other Prayers by Jo Carr and Imogene Sorley.
Copyright ©1969 by Abington Press.
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Acceptable Prejudice? PDF Print E-mail
Written by Julie Blum   

 

I just watched powerful television program. It was a special Dateline NBC program titled “America Now: Friends and Neighbors.” Here’s a link to some video clips and the transcript: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38382773/ns/dateline_nbc-america_now
            This is how the show began: “All across America, it is happening. People are hurting. For some, this economy may be turning around. But millions of families are at risk of going hungry in one of the richest nations on earth. The number of Americans visiting local food pantries has jumped 30 percent in the past two years alone. And here, in this rural region of Ohio, the very heart of America, the need is especially urgent...the stories poignant. Tonight, a very personal look inside the lives of families who’ve had it all vanish – jobs, homes, and dreams.”

One part of the program that really stood out for me ..... (click 'read more')
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Faith PDF Print E-mail
Written by Julie Blum   

 

 
Last year our adult Sunday morning class did a book study on “Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer” by Richard Rohr. Rohr is a Franciscan friar ordained to the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church in 1970. He is an internationally known inspirational speaker known for his talks and numerous books. I recently found this quote by him online:
 
The only thing that can endure deep doubt or anxiety is deep faith. You will not allow yourselves to enter into complexity, ambiguity, mystery, or the partial darkness that everything is, without a very strong faith. You will close down. I have found that those who can tolerate ambiguity and hold darkness are those who rise to great faith. Faith gets purified every time you go through the cycle of doubt and failure. On this wheel of fortune just about everything is purified: our self-image, our God-image, our worldview. A full life could be described as these three worlds—ever expanding.

 

 
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 27 July 2010 )
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Tent City in the news PDF Print E-mail
Written by Julie Blum   

 

I just came across a recent news story published on June 21, 2010 in the Woodinville Weekly. While it’s about Tent City 4, and we are considering hosting Tent City 3, it’s all very similar. Here is a compelling excerpt from the article:
 
Bill Block, project director of the Committee to End Homelessness in KingCounty (CEHKC) then took the mic.
 
He cited a litany of statistics regarding homeless people in the county and told the crowd that TC4 is "very exclusive about who it lets in."
 
The spokesman also said he could tell by the crowd that it was the first time TC4 was coming to its church: "The first time the hall is packed and the second time there are two people asking how they can help."
 
But perhaps the most compelling voice of all came from former Woodinville Police Chief Kent Baxter, now a King County sheriff who recounted the bumpy history between TC4 and the city.
 
"There were a lot of people that were upset about us hosting a tent city," he said. "But there’s been new legislation passed in 2010 that spells out churches have the authority — and the duty — to host these types of encampments."
 
Baxter was fully in support of TC4 and stuck his neck out.
 
"I challenge you to get on Web sites to educate yourselves and hopefully that will calm your concerns," he said. "I was chief of police for Woodinville for four and half years and I was right in the sights of it when it first came to town in 2004," he said. "As far as actual crime, it’s very minimal — in fact it’s less than the crime we see otherwise. We had like six calls and most of them came from Bruce to hand over a warrant arrest because they run checks on people and don’t let them in if they have warrants. That makes our job easier. They manage themselves, they have rules, and they follow those rules."
 
The entire article can be found here: 
 
 
“How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” – 1 John 3: 17 & 18
 
 
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Why are we even considering hosting Tent City? PDF Print E-mail
Written by Julie Blum   

 

It would be much easier to just tell them no. We would avoid conflict with those in our neighborhood who are angered by this prospect. It would save a lot of time and energy on our parts. It would save financial resources. After all, we already do so much with limited members and money. After all, aren’t we already doing enough?
 
So why are we even considering it? 
 
Because helping the outcast is the mission and ministry of the Church. We are called to not only look out for our own interests or to the interests of those in authority and power. But we are to speak up for those who have no voice, no power and no status in our society. An example of us doing this recently is when we, two years ago, became a “Reconciling in Christ” congregation who fully accepts and welcomes people from the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender.) community. That process didn’t come easily either. It took much discussion, study and prayer. But we did it because we are called to work for justice and to help those who are vulnerable and marginalized. Speaking up for the poor and homeless is no different.
 
Catholic scholars have coined the phrase “God’s preferential option for the poor” to describe a phenomenon found throughout both the Old and New Testaments: God’s partiality toward the poor and the disadvantaged. This can be a hard pill to shallow for those of us who own homes, cars and have Roth IRAs. However, throughout scripture we see that God gives preferential treatment to the poor and outcast. We who follow Jesus need to take that seriously. Even when it means more problems for us. Even when it means people will be angry at us and upset with us. Even when it means more work for us. But being a Christian means more than liking organ music and being ‘nice.’
 
As we prayerfully consider the request from Tent City to host them for 90 days may our hearts be open to the cries of “the least of these.” (Matthew 25:45)
 
 
 
Last Updated ( Friday, 16 July 2010 )
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